Say Goodbye to the Same Old Steakhouse

That most hidebound of dining institutions is long overdue for an update

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PROGRESSIVE PROTEINS | The menu at M. Wells Steakhouse in New York extends to everything from blood sausage and foie gras gnocchi to a 'Bone-In Burger.'
William Mebane for The Wall Street Journal

By

Joshua Ozersky

Dec. 27, 2013 2:35 p.m. ET

I ASSUME YOU remember the Steakhouse 1.0. You don't need to think back far, because it's always been the same and it never changes. Everything else in American culture retools every few years without fail, but somehow, against all odds, the steakhouse rolls along, its ancient engine purring, lubricated by money, gluttony and force of habit. It doesn't look much different than it did during the first Grover Cleveland administration, and how many things can you say that about? But the world around the steakhouse is changing, and the old-school version, with its windowless rooms, blackened slabs of aged beef and phoned-in side dishes, no longer has the luxury-carnivore market to itself. The Steakhouse 2.0 has arrived.

These "modern meateries," as I think of them, sate the same primal appetites as their gruff and clubby predecessors, but in a more contemporary way. The classic steakhouse is a temple of beef, with a lobster or lamb chop thrown in for the lady. The modern meatery serves a whole bestiary, devoting its energies in equal parts to beef, pork, lamb, veal, various birds and even some game animals. The beef at the old steakhouse was commodity meat, bought at the lowest bid, and the product of distant and anonymous feedlots. The meat you eat at Laurelhurst Market in Portland, Ore., or Underbelly in Houston comes from a handpicked rancher and is hormone-, cruelty- and antibiotic-free as a matter of course. More significant, the typical steakhouse focuses on three choices: strip steak, ribeye and tenderloin. The modern meatery uses every part of the animal, from snout to tail, frequently including parts from the inside, too. And then there's this: The steakhouse has a guy who throws steaks under a broiler; the meatery has a chef.

This isn't to say that the best of the old-school steakhouses aren't still great. New York's Peter Luger will always be the archetype; Bern's, in Tampa, is still probably the best classical steakhouse in the world; and I wouldn't want to live in a world without Gorat's in Omaha, or Musso & Frank in L.A., or Gene & Georgetti in Chicago.

But a new kind of diner has emerged over the last decade or two, one who follows chefs the way some people follow bands and expects to be not merely satisfied but edified, provoked or at least entertained. This type flocks to places like M. Wells Steakhouse in New York City, a labor of love by a hyper-carnivorous young Montreal exile, chef Hugue Dufour, and his wife and co-owner, Sarah Obraitis, a former heritage-meat purveyor. At M. Wells, you can order a teetering stack of pork chops or a burger with a long bone protruding theatrically and not a little surreally from its center. At King + Duke in Atlanta, the adventurous eater is as likely to find a Mississippi rabbit as a grass-fed Wagyu steak sizzling over the live hardwood embers on the 24-foot hearth that is the restaurant's centerpiece. To veteran Dallas chef John Tesar, that's the future. "We have a saturation of steakhouses that are owned by chains and totally focused on the bottom line," he said. "Now young chefs are driving the food scene, creating independent restaurants with creativity and entrepreneurship." Mr. Tesar is currently at work on a steakhouse concept for a major restaurant group and plans to stress game, untethered veal (meaning the calves roamed free with their mothers) and other underappreciated meats. The range of prices will be just as important, Mr. Tesar added: "I want it to be approachable, affordable and casual—not some cavernous man-cave where you have to spend $1,000 for four people."

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Diners at Ox in Portland, Ore..
Leah Nash

Beef prices have rocketed over the last few years, the result of catastrophic droughts in cattle country and the rising cost of feed, especially corn. A steakhouse can afford to charge $65 for a steak, but steakhouses exist in a bubble, like any luxury product. "Our customers are CEOs, vice presidents, executives," said Antonio Mora, the executive chef of Maloney & Porcelli, one of Manhattan's most successful steakhouses. "It's almost like a clubhouse for them." Corporate high-rollers with '90s-era expense accounts may not care about prices, but many others do—especially the younger, more gastronomically aware customers that drive the restaurant business. They don't mind eating cheek, or skirt, or flatiron steak at half the cost of ribeye. Pat LaFrieda, the country's best-known independent meat purveyor, has seen demand for these once-obscure cuts soar. "With beef prices where they are, it's out of necessity. Over the last few years, my customers have been looking for economy cuts in every category."

What's more, many chefs are appalled by the kind of waste that some traditional places take for granted. "I worked in a steakhouse, and they went through 10 cases of tenderloin in a night," Underbelly's chef Chris Shepherd told me, incredulously. "And the tenderloin is a tiny part of the carcass! It makes you wonder what happens to the rest of the animal." I, for one, will take the intense, fire-seared Painted Hills short rib at Ox in Portland, Ore.—an explosion of beef flavor at its most primal and vivid—over any steakhouse ribeye I can think of. Greg Denton, Ox's chef and co-owner, feels the same way. "To me, short rib is the most flavorful piece of beef. You have to work a little harder [to prepare it], sure. But every bite is worth it."

‘'I want it to be approachable, affordable, casual—not some man-cave where you have to spend $1,000 for four people.'’

There's more to the modern meatery than the food on the plate, though. For a lot of diners, the problem with the old-time steakhouses isn't merely that they are uninspired, or expensive. It is that they all look and feel exactly the same. Like the German beer-hall and British chophouse from which it descends, the steakhouse has always been looked at by its proprietors more or less as a feeding pen, and its customers as bags for putting meat and liquor into. It's an overwhelmingly masculine place, a guyland where beleaguered husbands go to high-five each other over their temporary liberation from the tyranny of women. There is no such template for the meatery, at least not yet. It can have the funky faux-opulence of M. Wells, or the sunny, open simplicity of the Butcher Shop in Boston. It has no gender to speak of, and it has no conventions to obey. It might even contain, as in Laurelhurst Market, a working retail butcher counter. The modern meatery is a work in progress, looking to the future, whereas the steakhouse is a product of the past, a time capsule. Does that mean that the one will replace the other? Probably not. But ask me again in 10 years.

A Contemporary Carnivore's Glossary*

Asado: Argentine-style grilling, typically over live wood or coal fires.

Bacon: Technically, cured pork belly, but nowadays any body part from any animal that is prepared in this style is called bacon, often with quotation marks.

Berkshire/Red Wattle/Ossabaw/Kurobuta/Duroc/Mangalitsa Pork: Different breeds of pig, each held to be superior in flavor to standard cross-breeds. Kurobuta and Berkshire are actually the same breed by different names. The tastiest, in my opinion, are Mangalitsa and Ossabaw—the latter is so rare it hardly ever appears on menus.

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Illustration by Sarah Vanbelle for The Wall Street Journal

Five Things to Look For

1. Live fire. Nothing is more inconvenient in a kitchen than the use of real hardwood as a cooking fuel, whether on an open grill or in an open oven. Some restaurants use "wood burning" grills that are actually mostly heated by gas flames—bluish sideways jets are the giveaway.

2. Changing meat specials. The small-farm producers favored by the best meateries don't churn out thousands of carcasses per week. And the small numbers they do harvest shift with the seasons. A constantly rotating menu of meats says they aren't coming down a factory pipeline.

3. Snout-to-tail cooking. Any self-respecting modern meatery should be bringing in whole animals and using up every bit of them. If the menu consists entirely of steaks, chops and short ribs, you may be looking at a steakhouse in meatery clothing.

4. Plainspoken menu language. While there may be many unfamiliar terms on a meatery menu, the basic language should be simple, clear and concise. The modern meatery has nothing to hide.

5. On-menu farm or ranch information. Saying something is "farm-raised" or "local" doesn't mean anything. There's no reason to believe that something is good simply because it is raised close by. Look for the name of a real farm in a real area: That way, you can find out about it if you want to.

Boar: An adult male pig, especially one caught in the wild. Boar is redder, tougher and has a stronger, porkier taste than the young pigs you generally find.

Boudin Noir/Blood Sausage: Exactly what it sounds like: sausage made from cooked blood.

Cheeks/Jowls: An animal's jaw muscles, which are typically very chewy, but also very dense and rich and delicious. They require a lot of special treatment and low, slow cooking.

Confit: Meat that has been cooked a long time in its own fat, making it obscenely tender and rich.

Dry-Aged: Meat that has been left in a cool, dry room, typically for two weeks, sometimes far longer. In that time it loses water and undergoes subtle chemical and physical changes that improve both its flavor and its texture.

Grass-Fed: Implies, though doesn't guarantee, that the animal has never been fed grain, corn or any food other than grass. In fact, all cattle eat grass at some point during their lives.

Pastured Veal: The meat from calves that got to spend some time outdoors, as opposed to being penned in the dark for their entire brief lives. Better still is "untethered" veal, which means that the animal got to walk around with its mother, at least for a while.

Piemontese Beef: An heirloom Italian breed notable for not being as good as Black Angus. At least in my opinion.

Rillettes: Confit that gets cooled down, cut up and mashed into a spread.

The incomparable Golden Steer in Vegas, and closer to home Marin Joe's where it is still 1962. Also found it a little hard to believe the food mecca of the west didn't garner a single mention? There are perhaps higher end joints in SF but for my money the place with with no sign has never let me down, go see Eddie at the The Brazenhead.

King of ALL steakhouses, one that brought class, terrific wine and a true dining experience to the typical steakhouse experience is none other than SPARKS STEAK HOUSE in New York City, midtown east. None other like it. Period. The freshest food all around - steak, fish, salads...just love this top of the line restaurant.

I'll just address Chicago, my town, Love Publican. Take ALL visitors there. Current menu has a sirloin steak on it. That's it for steaks. Girl And The Goat has a grilled skirt steak. That's it for steaks. Josh, NOBODY knows steakhouses better than you but these are note even close to steakhouses by ANY measure. Next time in town, let's go to Primehouse. My treat.

"Modern meatery?" What a load of tripe (pun intended). First it was "nouvelle cuisine," next it will be "nouvelle bouef" -- dressing up cheap cuts with a fancy name. That's not to say that people can't eat anything anywhere they want - it's just not my style.Give me a nice grilled filet mignon steak anytime (medium rare).

"With a median home price of $125K, it doesn't have a population that can support anything better than an olive garden."

What doesn't have a population to support anything, you idiot? And what does median home price have to do with population magnitude? NOTHING you idiot!

"You don't have the 5 bucks a week for a WSJ subscription so decent restaurants are off your menu."

Sure I do. I just choose to spend my money on more important things, since WSJ is provided for me free with my job. Your subscription bigotry is a logical fallacy to avoid the truth of my comments, and has been reported, you idiot.

The best beef by far is found in Alberta Canada. Grass-fed, antibiotic and hormone free. Cows wander around for a couple of years on open range. They are then finished for a month or two on Barley feed. The fat is pure white. It is first wet aged for 3 to 4 weeks, and then dry aged for 2 to 4 weeks.

The result is Heaven.

When in Calgary I go to Master Meats, a short cab ride from downtown. I call ahead and have them prepare a prime-rib for me to age it the way I like it as described above. They then trim, cut rib-eyes, and bones and cryovac the whole deal. For about C$170.00 you get 6 - 8 two inch thick steaks with absurd marbling, and a great fat cap and fat plug.

They are perfect on a grill. I salt them well about 3 hours before cooking and then just grind some pepper on them. It is a sin to eat this beef cooked more than rare to very light medium rare. The result is as perfect a piece of steak as can be had anywhere on earth. I've been everywhere and there is no better beef at any price than can be had with these perfect prime steaks.

The traditional old fashioned dark wood paneled white table clothed prime beef - did I say old fashioned? - steak house is just the ticket for me. A cigar bar is a plus. New-fashioned meat restaurants, as substitutes for the traditional old fashioned steak house, are not for me. We could argue about which of the old line steak houses are the best, but any one of them in many cities across this country is preferable to the 2.0-type discussed in this article.

Just ate at Luger's on Christmas Eve. The one and only. There is no place anywhere else that can match it. Used to be a regular customer at Ben Bensons on 52nd St. There is no other place like that, and sadly, it is gone. There are some things that can not be improved upon. Keep your aioli and chipotle and Pho...that's peasant food and always will be. The best beef is available only in New York, at places like Keene's, Luger, perhaps Sparks, Smith and Wollensky and Palm as well. But that's it. Been all over the country, eaten at many if not most of the steakhouses, and I say, without question, the old-line NY steakhouse was the best possible. As they go away, so too does the ability--and taste--to appreciate them. So take your skirt steak, wrap it in balsamic goat cheese and flambeed hen of the woods, and do what you wish with it. I'll stick with an on-premis, dry-aged prime steak, which requires no chef or improvement. Some things are as they are and are better than anything else.

throw the meat under a broiler? I know some places do that, i.e. ruths chris is one. I prefer cooked over a grill using fire. nothing better than that. as for the steakhouse 2.0? not for me. you can not improve upon a medium rare aged steak (bone-in ribeye one of my favorites) cooked over fire with a side of garlic sautéed spinach and a salad with italian or french bread with real plain butter without the herbs. keep the sour dough bread. please stop serving sour dough bread.

As a steak-lover, I love the ambiance, I love the fact that I eat those cuts, specifically Chateaubriand and Porterhouse, occasionally. As the article said, I am not part of the "man's club" culture in Keen's, my favorite steakhouse, for few reasons: 1. I am a woman, 2. It is too expensive for me to eat there on a weekly basis and 3. I can't afford it, calorically. I don't want to look like a Porterhouse. A new reason added to my list, recently. After watching a documentary about the cruelty in those farms, I want a steak that comes from a Humane Certified farm. I am willing to pay the extra. I even wrote a letter to Keens, asking for that.However, as someone who considers herself a foodie and one who knows a good steak when I eat one, the Modern steakhouse doesn't appeal to me. A steak on the bone in a bun?! You are ruining my steak, my experience and ritual of cutting it to the bone. Yet, I agree, I would love to see less waste, more respect to the animal I am carving.So, given the growing generation of green-foodies, myself included, I don't see Keen's or BLT Steak go out of business. I welcome the new modern steakhouse, maybe they will push the Steakhouse 1.0 to become green, but I see the Steakhouse 2.0 more as a trend and not so much as the new establishment. In 10 years, I believe, they will be incorporated into the 1.0, where you will be offered the same cuts as today, from humane farms, and the "new" cuts like cheeks, which are most tender and moist. Most importunely, I believe we will have a new rating for humane certified restaurants.

I don't see our favorite steak place morphing into a gourmet, girly-man, restaurant with a chef. It's the best steak place in town and most of the clientele go there for the steaks that they've been cooking for the last 60 years..in the same manner, with a side of baked potato, pasta, or green beans. Desserts are simple...chocolate cake, key lime pie or banana cream.The dishes are not expensive, the place is not fancy(though it is well done), the hostess is not a maitre de and the place is packed on weekends. Reservations are required.The formula works.Contrary to the philosophy or the "modern diner" who follows a chef around town, some things don't need "updating".

spot on John. A $1 thousand dinner tab for four is ridiculous. Must be factoring very expensive booze. I'm richer than ever form the Texas oil boom, but I'm also cheaper than ever. Home on the grill is the way to go. I don't have time for business lunches, I can usually accomplish what I need in a short phone conversation...

It's a special treat, a splurge at times........ a treat for me. Even if I am on an "expense account" as the guy that owns the joint I still pay. And yes, without expense accounts the steak houses would be up "s-hit creek"

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